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Old 21-08-20, 17:37   #1
Tomb Raidering
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Thumbs up Anniversary Appreciation Thread

Honestly, Anniversary needs one more than ever because of all the unnecessary hate it gets. Since I never saw an appreciation thread for it I thought I’d make it.

Lara’s design
I love how they made Legend Lara (who was actually very similar to AoD Lara) younger. The braid is a SERVE, and I’m glad they gave her a cotton top rather than a burst plastic balloon one.

Lara’s personality
The perfect interpretation of the character imho. She’s intelligent, calm and collected, agile and brave but she’s not over-the-top with oneliners and witty jokes. She ain’t also a crybaby. We stan.

The OST
One of the best TR OSTs ever, right up there with AoD and Legend. The main theme is a masterpiece despite what some people say. There’s a lot of memorable tracks such as Croft Manor Theme, Poseidon’s Theme, Raptor Theme, Centuar Boss Theme, Egypt Theme and the Torso Boss Theme. I like the overall style and direction they took for Anniversary’s OST.

Gameplay
The adrenaline dodge, wall run, standing-on-pole, climbing-up-pole moves are all a welcome addition to the already great Legend moveset. The animations are great to look at and satisfying (honestly the Legend/Anniversary animations are one of the best set of animations CD has done). Combat is fun and platforming is also a serve. The puzzle elements in bossfights were also great.

Improvements to levels
Anniversary’s The Lost Valley, Tomb of Qualopec, St. Francis Folly, Midas’ Palace and the whole Egypt section surpassed TR1’s ones. Croft Manor was a masterpiece with its own mini adventure storyline, the puzzles were well done.
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Old 21-08-20, 18:44   #2
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Croft Manor is definitely one of the best things about the game and a highlight of the entire LAU trilogy I agree. I love how the level was one giant fetch quest-y puzzle in itself. It's easily in the top 5 Anniversary levels and I'd go as far as saying one of the top 5 overall LAU levels.

I'm always amazed how brilliant CD make the Croft Manor levels. If they gave us a little more of that in the design of the main campaign levels their games would be so much better.

I disagree that Lost Valley and Tomb of Qualopec were improvements but to each his own. St Francis Folly however was a masterpiece and blew the original out the water whilst the Egypt levels also impress me.

Lara's model is 95% perfect, my favourite in-game Lara model ever. I love the braid too, it's a little more soft, romantic and bohemian-looking than the AoD/beta Legend Lara braid and I prefer it. The only things about her model I don't like is the thick sweaty wool top and that her facial expressions tend towards the softer side. I like my Lara to have a bit of a resting bitch face. Maybe she could do with slightly more muscle tone/bulk in the arms and legs too.

Last edited by Yeauxleaux; 21-08-20 at 18:48.
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Old 21-08-20, 19:45   #3
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If I had to pick something from Anniversary to appreciate, I would probably choose Croft Manor. As far as I remember, it was really interesting and relaxing, but I think I don't remember it well enough. I should replay it.
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Old 21-08-20, 19:55   #4
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Thumbs up

I agree with almost everything you said! Tomb Raider Abominationaty is a great Game and I'll admit to saying Lost Valley, Obelisk of Khamoon and Tomb of Qualopac surpass the Original by a far extend, whilst I dont really agree with you saying TRL is similar to AoD which isnt even the point but oh well
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Old 22-08-20, 15:19   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mek View Post
If I had to pick something from Anniversary to appreciate, I would probably choose Croft Manor. As far as I remember, it was really interesting and relaxing, but I think I don't remember it well enough. I should replay it.
Yes the Manor is ok it is at least original which I like I also like some of the unlockable outfits such as gold Lara and when you complete the game you, you get developer commentary Cyrstals also they did a good job with St. Francis Folly and thats about it for me.
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Old 22-08-20, 16:39   #6
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omg best thread ever!!! I'll come back to post more here!

The centaurs are the best boss battle in the whole franchise. You have to guess how to kill them first while using the new mechanics (grapple and adrenaline). It also implemented a well-known Greek myth (Medusa) into the battle.

And the music *cheff bise*

Last edited by SnatchingEdges; 22-08-20 at 16:40.
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Old 22-08-20, 19:50   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CircusBabysGal View Post
I agree with almost everything you said! Tomb Raider Abominationaty is a great Game and I'll admit to saying Lost Valley, Obelisk of Khamoon and Tomb of Qualopac surpass the Original by a far extend, whilst I dont really agree with you saying TRL is similar to AoD which isnt even the point but oh well
I love how you brought this joke to TRF.

I said Legend Lara’s face was lowkey similar to AoD Lara’s face, not the games.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SnatchingEdges View Post
omg best thread ever!!! I'll come back to post more here!
Thanks. As you should.

Quote:
The centaurs are the best boss battle in the whole franchise. You have to guess how to kill them first while using the new mechanics (grapple and adrenaline). It also implemented a well-known Greek myth (Medusa) into the battle.

And the music *cheff bise*
This wonderful tea...
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Old 22-08-20, 23:11   #8
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Tomb Raider 1 was heavily "pull the switch, run to the door, pull the next switch" and I think TRA did a really good job of mixing it up with the little puzzles they added.

The gameplay felt more balanced in a lot of ways.
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Old 23-08-20, 23:23   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LaraCablara View Post
Tomb Raider 1 was heavily "pull the switch, run to the door, pull the next switch" and I think TRA did a really good job of mixing it up with the little puzzles they added.

The gameplay felt more balanced in a lot of ways.
I agree with this. TR1 badly suffered from “pulling switches” and “putting in keys” kind of level design, but it’s OK since it was the first game and the later Classics fixed this problem.

Anniversary brought real puzzles to the table, which I like.
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Old 23-08-20, 23:30   #10
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TRA had nice symmetry. Particularly in Egypt it's noticeable - I've just completed TR1 again and TR1 Tomb of Khatmoon is very messy by comparison.
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